Ice Age (franchise)
For other uses see Ice Age (disambiguation) Ice Age is a popular computer animated movie franchise created by Carlos Saldanha and Chris WedgeNeeded of the comedy genre. Set in the ice age, it follows the adventures of fictional mammals consisting Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-tooth tiger, Scrat the saber-tooth squirrel and others. Three movies have been made so far and a fourth is in the works. All movies and shorts have been produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The franchise has received PG rating for peril and mild language, reviewers from critics have been mixed, some claiming the films lack storytelling and are merely journeys from A to B while others have praised the animation'Ice Age': The search for a plot - Philly.com - Access date 23/Feb/2010Critic Reviews for Ice Age: The Meltdown at Metacritic - Access date 23/Feb/2010 (section The Globe and Mail (Toronto)) The films have met financial success, grossing over $1,900,000,000 worldwide in their theater run. , Manny, Diego and Scrat, four of the main characters.]] Plot Summary ''Ice Age'' (2002) In the ice age period, 3 animals (Manfred the mammoth {Ray Romano}, Sid the sloth {John Leguizamo}, and Diego the saber-toothed cat {Denis Leary}) go into an adventure to return a baby to a human tribe that has left for their campsite; however, Diego had been sent secretly by Soto (Goran Višnjić), the sabers' pack leader, to bring the baby and mammoth to a place known as the Half Peak so they can ambush them and kill them. ''Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006) Global warming affects the environment and an immense amount of water threatens to flood the valley our heroes are currently living at. They have to go to the other side of the valley, where there presumably is a giant tree that can act as a boat to save them. Meanwhile, Manny (Ray Romano) is teased about being the last mammoth, but he finds Ellie (Queen Latifah), a female woolly mammoth, who thinks that she's a possum (as she lives with her possum brothers Crash and Eddie {Josh Peck and Seann William Scott}). ''Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'' (2009) Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) are waiting their first baby, while Diego wonders if he is becoming too soft lately and decides to leave the herd. Sid grows jealous of Manny and Ellie and adopts three apparently abandoned eggs that hatch into T-Rex baby dinosaurs. The next day a female T-Rex (Frank Welker {uncredited}) takes the babies and Sid and the herd follow them, getting into an underground world where Dinosaurs lived secretly for millions of years. Meanwhile, they meet a one-eyed weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg), who has been living underground for some time and helps them on their way. ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012) Sid (John Leguizamo) is reunited with his old family. Scrat at the beginning of Ice Age: The Meltdown]] Movies have a subplot, where an animal named Scrat makes many comical attempts to bury his beloved acorn. His misfortunes include getting chased by an enormous glacier, being struck by lightning, trying to thaw out the acorn by a fire too long so that it accidentally took the form of a kernel of popcorn, and finally, getting frozen in an ice cube, along with his much sought after nut 20,000 years into the future. Main Characters and Cast * Manny - Ray Romano * Sid - John Leguizamo * Diego - Denis Leary * Ellie - Queen Latifah * Peaches - , Keke Palmer (Ice Age: Continental Drift) * Crash and Eddie - Sean William Scott (Crash), Josh Peck (Eddie) * Scrat - Chris Wedge * Scratte - Karen Disher * Buck - Simon Pegg * Momma - Frank Welker (uncredited) * Rudy - Frank Welker (uncredited) The only character seen on all Ice Age films and shorts is Scrat. Various Information Basic Info Box office statistics Critical reaction Shorts There have been several released short feature films, in which Scrat has been the main character (expect for the third, which focuses on Sid). * Gone Nutty - Ice Age VHS and DVD * No Time For Nuts - Ice Age: The Meltdown DVD and Blu-ray (re-release) * Surviving Sid - Horton Hears a Who! DVD and Blu-ray * Scrat's Continental Crack-up Future ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012) A fourth film was announced by 20th Century Fox on May 5, 2010 with the tentative title Ice Age: Continental Drift. It is scheduled to be released in 3D on July 13, 2012.Ice Age: Continental Drift is Coming Summer 2012 - ComingSoon.net An Online and Mobile game of the film are also planned, depending on how the movie does in threaters. ''Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas'' (2011) An Ice Age Christmas special called Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas is planned for the future, as of April 26, 2011. No plot, production, or cast details have been released yet.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeremy-renner-jennifer-lopez-lead-182341 The release date set for this special is November 2011.http://www.theboombox.com/2011/04/27/drake-joins-the-cast-of-ice-age-4/ Merchandise plush doll (left bottom), and a Scrat action figure (right)]] The Ice Age series has had a variety of merchandise, including video games, Pez dispensers, plush dolls, action figures, and puzzles for small kids. Trivia * As suggested by the first film, the movies take place around 18,000 B.C. * The first film was originally intended as a drama but Fox would only accept it as a children's comedy. * Chris Wedge, the director of the first film, is the voice of Scrat. The name 'Scrat' is a combination of the words 'squirrel' and 'rat', as Scrat has characteristics of both species. * At some point after the Ice Age films (as shown in the epilogue of the first movie), Scrat was frozen, while in pursuit of his acorn and thawed out 20,000 years later on a tropical island. However, he lost his nut again. * The Ice Age movie series always has traveling to a certain place as a part of the plot, but the main characters have never actually reached their destination. ** They gave Roshan back to his father at Glacier Pass and never got a glimpse at the human settlement. ** They survived the flooding of the Great Valley thanks to Scrat, but never actually reached the the Boat. ** Sid was rescued at the Lava Falls and brought back by Buck and the opossum brothers while Ellie was giving birth with Diego and Manny's help. See Also * List of Ice Age characters * List of songs featured in the Ice Age films * List of Ice Age video games * Ice Age in popular culture * Ice Age epilogue Notes External links *Official website Category:Movies Category:Featured